Amplifying Anfield.
This is the story of how one visually impaired man enabled millions of fans around the World “see” football differently. This is the story of how he used his love for one of the greatest football clubs, Liverpool FC, to shed light on Seeing is Believing, Standard Chartered Bank’s flagship community programme to tackle avoidable blindness. Globally, an estimated 36 million people are blind, and a further 217 million suffer from moderate to severe visual impairment. Yet in four out of five cases, blindness can be prevented or treated.
We collaborated with a visually impaired Liverpool FC fan Pat Rodaway, who has been attending games since he was 14, although he has never seen a single goal scored. He wanted to bring the pre-match stadium ritual to millions around the world so that they could witness the atmosphere despite being miles away.
Pat’s heightened sense of hearing enabled him, together with 3D Binaural Audio technology, to replicate the emotional nuances and detail one's experience inside the stadium. Just as football unites communities and nations, sound connects humanity to the world and each other.
The binaural recording is created in a way that conventional microphones cannot achieve and the 360 audio effect transports the listener deep into the Kop. Working purely in the medium of sound, provided us an opportunity to approach the task of immersive storytelling from a whole new perspective. The technology is now at a stage of refinement making it an incredible way to capture atmosphere.
We launched a 3D Binaural Audio experience of the most powerful physical and emotional moments of Liverpool FC football fandom: being at their home stadium, Anfield, singing their anthem 'You'll Never Walk Alone’ on match day of World Sight Day 2017.
It drew football fans all over – regardless of visual ability – together to celebrate the power, history and emotion of a sport that transcends senses and differences between individuals. Hence, championing the importance of tackling avoidable blindness and empowering the visually impaired.
After all, what better way to amplify awareness than to allow people to experience the same thing in a different lens and sense. We wanted to show that when it comes to football; the less we see with our eyes, the more we see with our hearts.
Results:
USD 92 328 funds raised for Seeing is Believing
998.6% increase in number of visitors to the charity website
55+ Million media impressions
250 000+ total engagements
9.9 million video views within the activation week
Companies
Octagon
- Events
